The important thing is that we don’t panic

I’d do anything! Sang Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hopefuls on the hit BBC talent show. But unless you are auditioning to be the next Nancy, this might not be the best thing to warble at the interview stages. Far better, says Alan, to know exactly what it is that you do best.

While I don’t have a career plan that outlines my career movements for the next twenty years, I am in the process of developing a plan for my next few steps. It is a work in progress based on some of the ideas I unearthed at the EWO pilot programme earlier in the year.

A strategic plan sounds either completely corporate or like cringe worthy self-help but in reality it makes sense to have a step-by-step process and a checklist. As tempting as it is to try the scattergun approach to applying for as many jobs as possible, it isn’t actually very effective and more importantly is it really going to help me find the job that I want? It can get pretty disheartening to get constant rejection letters or no responses! Instead I am going to try a targeted approach, only contacting relevant companies.

One of the most rewarding aspects of the EWO pilot for me was drilling down into exactly what interests me and then aligning it with what they call my signature strengths. It all seems obvious but nevertheless, it is things like this that are easily often overlooked. For me it was about changing my mindset from a desperate and urgent need for a job to what actually makes me happy. I am not so naïve that I expect to enjoy every living moment of my future job but I want to enjoy it enough to get out of bed each morning.